A family affair
by LeontillyBalambgirl
Summary: [Squinoaish]It's the first mission in the 2 years since defeating ultemicia. But when Squall is contracted to stop a millitary rising in Deling city he finds himself coming up against a familiar face or two.[RXR][warns of 1 or 2 violent chptrs]
1. prologue

**Copyright:** I do not own Final fantasy 8. "….whatever"

**Note:**Well, I have been meaning to post this story for a while, and finally got around to it! Right well this is just a very very very short prologue to let you know were everyone is at when the story starts and the proper chapters coming soon. I promise it gets better. Well this is for the usual people. Wayne, hey this is the story finally! And Hannah, the evil pom-bear villain. enjoy y'all

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The world was at peace. The wars that once ravaged the lands were over and the terrifying reign of the sorceresses was a thing of the past. Each nation and each town now lived freely without fear. And no one enjoyed this peace more than the six heroes who had made it possible by defeating ultemicia and restoring some order to the world. It had been 2 and a half years since the defeat of Ultimecia but the effects that the whole quest had on the lives of the six heroes were still strong. Balamb Garden, were all six heroes mostly resided, was still hailed as the ultimate home of the heroes even after those 2 1/2 years. This of course meant I was an extremely busy place. Everyone wanted to train as SeeD there were the worlds saviours lived, for although the peace was still strong, and SeeD were rarely needed at the moment, they were still trained in case the peace should end. But although it was now a much busier place, all was well in Garden and all was well in the lives of its heroes.

Quistis Trepe had returned to her former position of Instructor, but was now amongst the senior teaching staff. She was much happier now , much more talkative than she used to be. She had opened up a lot since returning to her teaching post and was becoming more out going everyday. Zell Dincht had also stayed at Garden as a specialist combat instructor. His teaching skills were remarkably unexpected. It was amazing to the others just how professional and serious Zell could be when he set his mind to it. He was loving imparting knowledge onto new students and they clearly loved him undoubtedly because of his-sometimes exaggerated-tales about the defeat of Ultimecia.

Selphie Tilmit and Irvine Kinneas-now a serious couple after Irvine was finally beat into submission on the settling down issue-split their time between there small house in Balamb town and Trabia were they had almost completed their project of restoring Trabia Garden to it's former glory. Irvine had immediately been made a SeeD on returning after the Ultimecia fight as a reward for all his efforts.

Seifer, who showed up about a year ago, was also now a SeeD, but he had been forced to retake the training programme and undergo psychiatric evaluation (this was Zells suggestion). Eventually Cid and Edea decided he had done enough and let him return to garden. Apart form a few fights with Zell, Seifer had caused minimal trouble in the year he had been at garden, he was still not entirely trusted, but he certainly seemed to be making an effort.

Headmaster Cid remained the quietly authorities figure he had always been, but mostly was busy making plans to rebuild the orphanage with his wife Edea.

Most of the day to day running of Garden was left to Commander Squall Leonheart. In the 2 years since ultemicias defeat Squalls life had changed more than anyone elses. A year after The final fight he'd proposed to Rinoa, so now as well as a commander, a seeD and a knight, he was also a husband, which he considered to be the most important of his positions. Rinoa had become a SeeD as well as Irvine, and everyone in Garden seemed to like her. She was still the same vibrant, caring young woman she was 2 years ago and for the most part Squall had changed, but there was still that part of him that was distant sometimes and cold, but if anyone could bring him out of that shell he slipped back into sometimes, it was Rinoa.

They were still as madly in love with each other as they were when they first got together. They were the most famous couple in Garden, admired for their commitment, love and friendship. Most people saw very little change in the way they acted before they were married. They had always been close and Squall had always had a deep respect and affection for Rinoa that everyone knew about, they could see it just by looking at them. Squall and Rinoa knew they would more than likely be together forever, but their marriage made it official. For once in Squall's life he was happy. For once in his lifetime the world was at peace, for once in his lifetime everything was calm. But that was all about to change……

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more soon xx


	2. the new mission

**disclaimer: **i do not own ff8. or there characters and so on...

**Note: **well okey dokes here is the next chapter, not a whole lot of action but kind of sets up the story.i'll try to add more soon. Thanks to my usual peeps. Wayne for being very cool and also being one fo the two people to review my first chapter and hannah for being the other lol and for being there to help me with my pkots and also for gneral rockige. we have sooo much fun. all i have to say is sainsburys!Enjoy the story y'all xx

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Squall Leonheart was sitting in his office sorting through the massive piles of paperwork on his desk. As little fighting as there was in the world, Squall still seemed always to be saddled with a forest worth of paperwork. at the moment it was a time of year that Squall particularly hated at the moment. It was that horrible time when he was responsible for writing a report about every single student in Garden. All 547 of them. Squall dropped his head on to his desk "300 left" he muttered to himself. At that moment he heard a gentle tapping on his door.

"yeah?" he answered in his mono-tone 'I'm bored' voice

"It's me. Rinoa" called the familiar and soothing voice.

Squall got up and opened the door to his office. As soon as he saw Rinoa's face he felt happier. Suddenly work didn't seem to be an issue. He took both her hands and lead her into his office "Did we or did we not have the conversation. Were I said you didn't have to knock anymore?" he teased her playfully

"Yes" she said blinking up at him-in the past two years he had grown quite a bit of height over her- "but I thought you might be working"

"Hmmm. I'll let you off then." Squall said as he bent down slightly and kissed her on the top of her head

"Besides! You obviously were working" she said gesturing to the pile of paper on his desk. Squall wandered back round and sat behind his desk. "Reports" he said rolling his eyes "Fun"

"That sucks" Rinoa pouted "I wanted to see if you wanted to go out somewhere. You've been working a tonne recently. I feel like I haven't see you for ages" she said as she sat on the end of his desk

Squall laughed slightly to himself "You saw me this morning"

Rinoa narrowed her eyes at him slightly "Well I think that's a long time. Besides you cant actually want to do all this work can you" she leant across his desk and kissed him lightly

"That's so unfair" Squall whispered playfully "Now you're just deliberately trying to distract me"

"Working?" she asked him. He leant in again to kiss her, but at that moment the door to his office swung open and the two of them sprung apart.

Quistis and Headmaster Cid were standing in the door way. Cid looked mildly uncomfortable and Quistis was doing her best not to look at Squall or Rinoa. She had known all along they'd end up married, so it was no shock to her when they actually did. But it was still hard for her to see them together, for as hard as she had tried to move on and be happy for them, some of her feelings for Squall still lingered in the back of her mind. And as hard as she tried to get on with Rinoa-and she really did like her-she always felt a pang of jealousy and even resentment towards Rinoa.

"Sorry commander" she muttered still looking at the floor

Squall brushed his hair out of his face "It's erm…it's not a problem"

Rinoa stood up, smoothed her hair, fixed her clothes slightly then, slightly blushing said "this seems like it's going to be business. I'll see you later Squall. Quistis. Cid" she nodded to both before leaving the room.

"What is it?" Squall asked his colleagues

Cid placed a folder down on Squall's desk "It's a mission"

Squall was shocked and slightly excited. A mission. It had been over two years since Squall had gone on a mission. His role as commander had consisted solely of doing masses of paperwork. He picked up the folder skimming through the details.

"Please chose a team quickly Squall, the situation sounds quite desperate, we should aim to leave perhaps tomorrow morning."

"I'll get straight on it" Squall nodded.

"Right. Good work" Cid said before leaving the room

"Quistis could you find Selphie, Irvine, and Zell and tell them to come to my office in an hour"

"ok. Sure commander" she promptly left the room, and Squall sat back down and started to read through the information he had been given. A few seconds later Rinoa wandered back into the room

"What was all that about?" she asked sitting on the little sofa at the side of the room

"A new mission"

"A mission? Wow. It's been a while. What's the mission. Where are we going?"

"We are not going anywhere. You're not going"

Rinoa looked a little taken aback by his statement

"You're not going on the mission" Squall repeated, writing something down on a piece of paper

"But I want to go"

Squall shrugged his shoulders "Tough. You're staying here"

Rinoa stood up and placed her hands on her hips "Why? Why aren't I going"

"It seems as if it could become very dangerous"

"So!" she demanded

Squall sighed and rubbed his forehead "So you're my wife. And I'm not going to go and put you in danger because I don't want you hurt. Why is that wrong?"

"It's not" she said her tone softening slightly "It's just that…you don't need to shield me from danger. I can handle danger Squall. We both know I can"

"Maybe you can Rin. But it doesn't mean you should have to, no one should really. But that's my job"

"Well it's my job too. I'm not only your wife Squall, I'm a SeeD too. And SeeD go on missions"

"You know what you're right. But hold on if you actually want to look at it that way, well you're a SeeD, but husband or not, I'm still your commander. And I say you're not going"

Rinoa sat down and crossed her arms over her chest "Fine" she breathed.

Zell ran frantically down the hall way, bumping into Irvine and Selphie in the process

"Yo guys" he said "Quisty find you?"

"yeah, something about a mission were on our way up to Squalls office now" Selphie answered

"Oh yeah baby, mission time. Its time to give these fists o'mine a work out. It's been a while"

"You two are way to excited" Irvine said in a lazy tone "this means we actually have to work you know"

"Irvine!" Selphie hit him playfully "We're seed, were supposed to do missions!"

"Yeh yeh yeh" Irvine said waving his hand.

When they got to Squalls office, Squall was sitting behind his desk looking very serious and Rinoa was sitting on the sofa, gazing out of the window. As Zell looked closer, he realised she was not enjoying the view, she was just purposefully looking anywhere but at Squall.

'_woah, tense'_ he thought to himself as he took a seat.

"Right" Squall stood up behind the desk "Here's the situation. We all know that after the whole lunar-cry situation, under the say of Esthar, Galbadia's military government was overthrown in favour of a more liberal one, and that there army was limited for use only in military crises. Well apparently now someone is trying to bring back the military, 500 new soldiers have been recruited into the army and some protesters contacted Esthar to ask for the rising to be stopped. President Laguna has referred them to us, so we have to help them. We'll travel to Deling to meet with these protesters, and also to take part in a negotiation talk that's happening. We will represent the interests of both Balamb and Esthar, Selphie you'll represent the interests of Trabia. There'll also be representatives from Timber, Winhill and Dollet in attendance. Now we are at the aid of the protesters, so if the negotiations fail then are job is to eliminate the Galbadian army, at least to the point were they are no longer a threat.

"I say, screw the peace talks. We should go straight to the violence" came a familiar voice from the door way. Squall looking up and seeing who the voice belonged to, rolled his eyes

"what do you want Seifer?"

"I want in. heard there was a mission and I want a piece of the action"

"No way" Zell said standing up so quickly he nearly knocked over his chair

'_Seifer. Do I really think that's a good idea he causes more problems than he solves. Then again he is a strong fighter. And it's better than leaving him here with Rinoa'_

"Fine, seifer you're in." Squall sighed "but if you fail to follow any of mine or our clients orders you are out of Garden for good ok?"

Seifer rolled his eyes and sat on the nearest chair.

"So squall" Quistis said choosing to ignore Seifers interruption " These people trying to bring back the military. Who are they?"

"It doesn't say actually. I guess we'll find out when we get there. So is everyone clear on what were doing"

Everybody nodded, except Rinoa who just kept staring out the window.

"Right you better all go and prepare, we're leaving first thing tomorrow. Hopefully we wont have to fight, but it might come to that, so if you can try and fit in some training it's been a while since we've had to fight. That's all"

"I am so PSYCHED!" Zell said running out of the room and no doubt straight to the training centre.

"Hey wait up" Selphie Squealed running after him, and Irvine and Quistis followed behind in a much calmer manner.

Rinoa stood up and without saying anything to Squall or Seifer walked out of the room.

"Yeesh. What's wrong with the missus?" Seifer laughed

"Go away Seifer" Squall said tiredly

Seifer strolled out of the room still laughing to himself.

'_Same old Seifer' Squall thought_

When Squall went to his room later that night, he found Rinoa sitting on the bed staring straight at the wall in front of her. When he opened the door she looked of briefly before looking back to the wall.

Squall sat down next to her on the bed "What's up?"

"I'm……..worried" she said quietly

"About what?"

"You. This mission. I just have a bad feeling about it. ..you…you shouldn't go Squall"

"I have to" Squall said simply

"Why. Why do _you_ have to go. Can't you send someone else."

"I have to go Rinoa because it's my job" he could see that tears we're starting to trickle down her face and he wrapped his arm around her to comfort her "And I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me. We might not even have to fight"

"How long will you be gone?" she asked between little sobs

"I don't know. It could be a day. Could be a week. .."

"Could be a month or a year" she sobbed

He pulled her to him and hugged her "Don't be crazy. It wont be that long. it's just one contract"

" Remember how your last contract ended Squall….?"

"Do you mean that I nearly died or that technically I married my last client"

"Both. What if that happens again?" she wailed

Squall laughed a little to himself "Ok you don't need to worry about either of them. I'll be fine. I'll be home before you even know it ok?"

"o..ok" she whispered

"trust me. Everything will be fine. "

But as much as Squall told her that, deep inside he felt ever so slightly worried about what would happen. It had been two years since his last mission. Two years since he had fought any real battles. And for two years he had not been apart form Rinoa for more than a day. He wondered if he could actually cope on this mission…….

It was the middle of the night, or perhaps early hours of the morning and the room was bathed in darkness. Rinoa couldn't sleep. She just lay there, resting her head against Squalls chest and looking up at the ceiling. She was worried still. Something about this whole thing just gave her a bad feeling. Thoughts were jumping erratically around her head

'_it'll be so weird, Squall not being here. And what if something happens to him and I'm not there. What if this is the last time I ever see him"_ She started to cry again.

Squall, whom she had not realised was awake, stroked her hair and said "go to sleep, it's late. Stop worrying about me"

She tried to stop the tears from falling. "Squall…just one thing" she said softly

"Anything"

"Just…don't leave me for too long." she whispered, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, and closing her eyes

"I wont. I promise"


	3. a little twist

**Disclaimer: **I don't own ff8. that's one of the only things I am actually sure of. I used to own squall but he still never returned from when he ran away with that spoon. That lucky lucky spoon. My eyes are on her!! what I'm not mad!!! ROCK LOBSTER!!!!

**Note: **well here's a new chapter. This is kind of were the story kicks off. Thanks to anyone who read and reviewed, and yes I actually made an effort with my capitals in this piece, so thanks for the pointers renegade seraph. And thanks to my oh so lovely Wayne and Hannah who also reviewed for me. You guys rock. Enjoy the story y'all.

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Dawn had come and cast a majestic orange light over Balamb Garden. 6 people were assembled outside the gate to the Garden. Zell stood tapping his foot in an agitated, impatient manner. "Damn stupid Seifer. He's always late. We should just leave without him" he scowled, Selphie laid a sympathetic arm on Zells shoulder

"don't let him get to you" she advised.

Quistis was standing prim and proper as ever observing the other members of the group. She glanced over to were Rinoa was standing. She was having a conversation with Irvine and did not look entirely happy. In fact it looked as if she had been crying and hadn't slept much as her eyes were all red and squinty. Quistis was actually mildly intrigued as to why exactly Rinoa was being made to stay behind when she clearly wanted to go. It had always seemed to Quistis that Squall and Rinoas relationship contained a balance and equality of power, but she guessed when it came down to it, or at least came down to military matters, Squall had the final say.

Squall at this time was loading weapons and equipment into the large car they were to take.

"Yo" Zell said running over to Squall "Why are we taking a car, when we have a wicked-cool spaceship"

"Because" Squall answered flatly "President Laguna gave us the Ragnarock for special emergencies. And this is not one. We can just take this car on a vessel over to Galbadia and then drive to Deling"

Zell folded him arms "Still seems a bit daft" he muttered

'_it is way too early for Zell' _Squall thought to himself

"You can always walk Zell"

Zell muttered something to himself and got into the car. Selphie ran over to were Irvine was talking to Rinoa and grabbed him by the arm "Come on Irvine lets go lets go!!" she was unnaturally excited by this mission "Bye Bye Rinny. Look after Garden for us" she called as she dragged the sleepy looking Irvine over to the car. Without a word Quistis followed them and climbed into the car.

At that point Seifer strolled through the gate, humming to himself unconcerned that he was holding everyone up. He slowly made his way over to the car but Squall stopped him in his tracks "you're 45 minutes late Seifer and you're annoying me already. You're holding everyone up".

Seifer shrugged off the comment and headed for the car. "Morning chicken-wuss" Squall heard him say as he got in.

'_Why the hell did I let him come' _Squall questioned himself

Sitting in the car Zell was wondering the same thing. He was also trying to restrain himself from ripping Seifers annoying face off. He turned and looked out of the back window of the car. He saw that Squall was making his way over to Rinoa, probably to say goodbye. Selphie turned around and looked out of the window with Zell

"I hate goodbyes" she sighed

"Looks like they do too" said Zell who was closely observing Squall and Rinoa.

"You probably shouldn't be watching them" Quistis said stiffly, but Selphie and Zell ignored her and carried on looking out of the window. Zell wondered what they were saying.

They could see that Squall was talking to Rinoa who would actually not look at him. He placed one hand on her waste and used the other to turn her face towards him. Tears were Rolling down her cheeks. Squall brushed a few strands of hair form her face and continued talking to her. After a minute or two, Rinoa nodded and said something that Zell couldn't make out.

Then he saw Squall pull her close to him, and hold her tightly. Then he let go and turned around, but as he took a few steps towards the car she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. She reached around her neck and took of the silver chain that held both her and Squalls rings. She pressed it into Squalls hand and kissed him. He hugged her one last time and then headed for the car.

"So sweet" Selphie sighed to herself

As Squall climbed into the car Seifer chuckled "Now who's holding us up lover boy?"

Squall glared at him, and took his seat silently.

The whole journey was filled with a strange, uncomfortable tension.

"So" Seifer said "how about we just don't bother with these stupid negotiations and we go straight to taking out the army?"

"Don't be ridiculous Seifer" Quistis said coldly

"Fine" Seifer rolled his eyes "Whatever"

'_What's the point , he'll probably just do what ever he wants anyway'_ Quistis thought to herself.

Squall sat silently back in his seat, eyes closed, wondering why in heavens name he had let Seifer come on this mission.

The rest of the journey passed silently and felt like it was the length of an eternity….

When the group arrived the scene of Deling city shocked them. After all they'd seen in their lives, this was perhaps one of the worst scenes. Deling, usually so classy and busy, was empty of citizens, but littered with Galbadian soldiers and heavily armed protesters. Shop windows were smashed and cars upturned and on fire.

"Woooh. This is bad man" Zell said staring out of the car window in disbelief.

"It's odd that they would have let the damage escalate so far before setting up negotiations and calling in reinforcements" Quistis commented

"Apparently it escalated almost over night" Squall explained "Ok, here's the address of the protest base"

When they arrived at the address they saw it was a grubby little house on the outskirts of the city.

"Real professional base" Seifer scoffed

Squall sighed. "When we get inside you are not allowed to talk"

He walked down the steps to the house and knocked on the door "It's SeeD, from Balamb Garden. Open the door" he called.

Several voices could be heard mumbling on the other side of the door. A few seconds later, the door opened and the group were facing a small blonde girl who couldn't have been more than 16 or 17. She stared at Squall for a few seconds. Then she cried "It's SeeD. SeeD are here!!!!"

An older, red-headed woman, came and stood by the girl, looking the group up and down cynically. Squall guessed she was probably about 40, and she didn't look like the friendliest person in the world. She flicked her eyes over each member of Squalls group and then huffed. "oh this is just great. We ask for the most capable SeeD and we get a bunch of……kids."

"_Kids!!" _Zell though angrily _"we've probably been through more than she'll ever go through in her lifetime!"_

"Listen lady…" he started but Squall raised a hand to silence him.

"look "Squall said trying to keep his patience which was already being tested "we're not kids, we're SeeD's and that's what you wanted"

"How old are you?" the woman asked cynically

"That's not the issue here."

"Of course it's an issue. Answer the question"

"19. I'm 19."

The woman narrowed her eyes at him "You're just a teenager"

Squall was finding it very difficult not to just turn and walk away from this woman and tell her to help herself.

"Well, if you want you can try and manage this problem by yourself and I'll come back in 3 months when I turn 20." he added with a certain sarcasm

The woman folded her arms across her chest "when I spoke to the headmaster at your Garden, he said he'd send the Commander, commander something or other, but instead he sends his students. Unbelievable"

'_Only one way to solve this'_ Squall thought to himself. He took out his wallet and took from it his SeeD I.D card. He held it up to the woman, who snatched it from his hand and examined it.

"You're Commander Leonheart?" she asked, her voice a mixture of shock and suspicion. Squall snatched the card back from her.

"Yes. I am. And this is my best team. Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmit, Irvine Kinneas, Quistis Trepe and Seifer Almasy"

"Fine" the woman conceded. "Come in"

After closing the door behind the group and showing them to a table surrounded by lots and lots of chairs she signalled four of her friends over and they huddled in the corner whispering in hushed tones.

"Well aren't these people just lovely" Irvine muttered taking a seat

"So. SeeD huh?" the young girl who had answered the door said as she sat down in an empty chair on one side of Squall. "And you're like the boss. that's like so so cool"

Seifer tried to stiffle a laugh, but was unsuccessful.

"Moron" Zell whispered shooting a death glance at Seifer. What was he even laughing at?

"So what's your brilliant, super plan then commander ?"

If he didn't know better he would swear this girl was hitting on him. _'She is way to excited' _Squall thought.

"Well we will attend the negotiations you mentioned being held tomorrow and then if a compromise is not reached we'll act accordingly"

"Ok. I have a question" Irvine said leaning back in his chair, his feet up on the table. "This person, who is trying to re-organise the army or whatever. Why would they want to do that?"

The red haired woman joined the conversation at this point.

"well" she shrieked "That stupid man thinks that Galbadia should have an army in control to prevent future threats to peace. Can't he see he's the threat to peace. He'll build up the army and start taking over countries again and we'll be right back were we started" she banged her fist on the table "idiot!!"

"It's soooooo ridiculous" the young girl huffed

"But who is this 'he'? Do you know who's behind this?" Zell enquired.

"Who else, but the old Galbadian general, that Stupid General Caraway!"

All the SeeD's registered the same look of shock and exchanged glances quickly.

General Caraway. Last Squall had heard, he had been stripped of his title when the Galbadian military had been disbanded. Squall, however, had not actually heard from or spoken to Caraway since he had contracted them to assonate Edea nearly 3 years ago. Caraway had made no effort to contact Rinoa since that day, despite everything that happened to her, and Rinoa had chose not to invite him to her wedding.

The woman glanced round the SeeD's and noticing the shock, particularly on Squalls face, she asked "what do you know him?"

Before Squall had a chance to answer Seifer jumped in "Know him. Why Our Commander here's related to him!"

"Seifer!!!"

"Wait. You're related to General Caraway" the woman asked, looking shocked herself

Squall rolled his eyes. Trust Seifer to make things worse. That's all he ever seemed to do.

"yes I…"

"you're related to him??" she shrieked in disbelief

"Yes. But not by blood. He's my father in law"

The blonde girl pouted "You're married?"

"Yes."

"Wait, a second" said another person, a tall guy who had not spoken yet. "So you're married to Caraway's daughter? Wasn't she that crazy Sorceress?"

"No" Squall said bluntly  
"yes she was. Well at least for a bit" Seifer chimed in, sounding as if he was thoroughly enjoying this.

""Whos side you on?" Zell hissed at him

The Blonde girl shook her head "Hmmph. Guess evil runs in that family"

"My wife is not evil. She is a sorceress but she's not evil" Squall said

The red haired woman shook her head condescendingly "the leader of SeeD married to a sorceress. I thought SeeD were supposed to eliminate the threats not bed them.."

'_What the hell do you know' _Squall thought angrily

"Look" he said trying to control his temper "my personal life and my marriage have absolutely nothing to do with this mission"

"I can't believe they sent us someone related to the enemy" the woman hissed

"it will not affect my job. I have no feelings towards Caraway. I don't speak to him, nor does my wife. This isn't any different to any other mission for me."

But already Squall could sense that somehow this mission might be different and one thing he knew for sure, that he could tell from what had already happened, was that it was certainly not going to be easy……..

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**Note: **well, well a new chapter shall indeed be up soon I doth hope. if you are sitting there thinking what was the point of that, I apologise, but stick with the story. Next chapter Squall comes face to face with Caraway and with Seifer playing Devils advocate for his own amusement sparks are sure to fly….


	4. face to face

**Disclaimer:** yup here i am not owning ff8

**Note:**well heres another chapter. i had so many computer problems, this is the htird version of this chapter and this isnt as good as the first two i wrote but oh well. in this we see Squall and caraway come face to face ehehehe. thanks to wayne for his reviews and general coolness and to hannah-put that you read this story on your ucas form. and enjoy the snaps. thanks to anyone else whos reading. enjoy the story everyone!

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It was coming up to 6pm. The negotiation meeting was scheduled for 6pm, at General Caraways' mansion. As the group of SeeDs sat in the car travelling to the mansion, which was on the other side of town to the protest base, Zell decided to break the silence.

"Yo, you guys. How weird is it to be going back to that house. I mean remember last time! Man does that seem like forever ago. I mean we were all so…." Zell seemed to be searching for the right word "…new. It was like our first major mission"

"Yes. Things certainly were different" Quistis agreed "My, matron was still our enemy at that point."

Squall thought about this. Now, Matron was a beloved member of Garden and a great friend and helper to the gang and it was hard to remember that she had once been their most dangerous enemy .Back then the world was still at war, the gang hardly knew each other, and -the thing that seemed strangest to Squall-Rinoa was still just his client.

"ooh and Seifer was still…." Selphie began

Zell jumped in "a jackass?"

"Nooooo! I was going to say…evil" Selphie finished glancing at Seifer

"Ahh good times, good times" Seifer said, prompting strange alarmed looks from everyone "Kidding" he said rolling his eyes

It was at that moment that the car pulled up outside the familiar mansion.

'_here we go…'_Squall thought to himself

Stepping into the house, Squall noticed that not a lot had changed. It looked exactly the same as it had last time he was here. A man in a Galbadian uniform lead the gang into a room with a large table in the centre. At the head of the table sat General Caraway. He didn't look too different than he had the first time Squall had encountered him. He still had the same harshly angled face, rigid posture and distinctive silver grey streak running through his hair.

Squall and his friends assembled around the table, along with the red-haired woman who had insisted on coming along. Squall was happy to get straight down to business to avoid sticking around any longer than he had to. But unfortunately that was not the way things happened.

As soon as Squall sat down, a Galbadian soldier shoved a piece of paper at him "Sign it" the guy said bluntly

"Soldiers at peace talks. Well if that aint irony…"

Caraway shot a glance at Irvine, and then glanced around the rest of the group

"have we met?" the General asked suspiciously "you all look familiar". he glanced around again, his eyes then settling on Squall "Yes! I remember you. The sorceress assassination…..that was you lot"

"yup that was us. The ones you set up and then left to rot in prison" Zell said anger creeping into his voice.

"Calm down Zell" Squall said distractedly looking through the papers he had been told to sign

"And I'm to assume you are the leader, still. Wait…" the General narrowed his eyes at them "you're the ones who…battled the sorceress, that ultemicia one are you not? I've heard about you"

"We are soooo flattered" Zell said sarcastically

The general dismissed Zell and turned his eye to Seifer. "you, I don't remmeber ever meeting you"

"Of course you didn't meet him. When you met us I believe he was….ah yes on the side of the sorceress right Seifer?" Zell said shooting a glare at Seifer

"So you were with the Sorceress?" Caraway said glaring at Seifer "You helped to destroy this nation and fuel this ridiculous 'Sorceress war' then! Are you completely mad.."

"Well that's Seifer for you" Squall muttered still reading through the paper

Seifer laughed a little "Hey old man" he said to the General "It's not me you want to be riled at. If you want to get mad at anyone, try him, not me" he nodded to Squall "I'm not the one banging your daughter"

"Seifer!!!!" Squall yelled. He had been hoping that Rinoa would not come up at all during this mission. Squall had no idea how much Caraway knew about him and Rinoa. But form the shocked look on Caraways face he was guessing he didn't know much

"What?" Caraway demanded he narrowed his eyes at Squall while seifer carried on laughing to himself

"way to go Seifer, that helped" Zell snapped

"What the hell is going on with you and my daughter?"

"none of your business" Squall said calmly

"Of course it's my business, we are talking about my daughter!!"

"Actually we are talking about my wife"

A look of utter disbelief spread across the Generals face

"what?"

"it's fairly simple. Your daughter is my wife. We got married."

"I don't believe this" Caraway hissed

Squall held up his left hand so the General could see his wedding ring "Believe it now?"

"I knew it. I knew years ago I should never have let my daughter anywhere near you. Just look at what you put her though. Don't think I didn't hear about her becoming ..A sorceress, all because of you and then she was stupid enough to go and marry you. You ruined her life"

"Ok one thing" Squall said becoming increasingly annoyed at Caraway "if you insult my wife again I may have to hurt you. Another thing being you tried to keep your daughter away form me, by locking her in a room I believe, she chose to find me again. And if your so damn concerned about what she went through why haven't you made any effort to contact her in the past two years? And as for ruining her life well I'm sorry but I really don't think you know what the hell your talking about"

"Your an arrogant son of a bitch" the general hissed

"Thank you. Do you have a pen?"

"W-what?" the General was taken aback

"A pen. To sign this" Squall said waving the papers he'd been given at Caraway

The red headed woman at the end of the table huffed "Are we finally going to get to do what we came here to do. I don't really give a damn about your stupid argument"

"My god, do you ever not moan" Irvine sighed rolling his eyes

"No, shes right Irvine. I didn't come here to discuss my personal life.So down to business. "

"And what exactly is your business here?" the General asked

"You, you're breaking the rules!! Stop trying to bring back the military you stupid little man" the Red haired woman cried

"I think we can be a little more professional than that" Quistis said coolly "I assume you know that you are in fact violating the rules and limitations about the Military laid down by Esthar?"

"Hmm. Esthar. And why do they get to tell us what to do?"

"Because they do. They know you have broken the limitations set and thus Esthar and the citizens of Deling have asked us to intervene" Quistis explained calmly

" I don't think there should be limitations. We need an army to defend ourselves. Esthar is just limiting our army so they can invade"

"Para-noid" Zell whistled

"Look. Rules are rules. Now this can all be sorted very quickly. All you have to do is stop conscripting people into the army. Esthar have agreed to raise the quota of Soldiers you are allowed but you are still way over that number. So basically stop before your stopped" Squall said bluntly

" And if I don't stop?"

"I'll act accordingly. Both in conjunction with Esthar and in my position as leader of Balamb garden."

Selphie took a piece of paper out of her bag and handed it to Squall, who passed it to the General "Read this. It's the stipulations according to Esthar regarding the current situation. You have a day or two to sign it. If you don't…well we'll be forced to limit the number of soldiers ourselves. That's all" Squall said standing up, the rest of the group doing the same. The others filed out of the room first and just as Squall was about to leave, Caraway grabbed his arm

"Please do not touch me" Squall said

"Wheres my daughter?"

" you don't need to know. She is, by the way, fine which you failed to ask."

"I always knew that girl would mess up her life. I take my eye of her and she ends up …..wait, so you're my son in law?" he asked disgustedly

"unfortunately. And you're my selfish arrogant asshole in law."

"I'll ask you again. Wheres my daughter?"

"She's at home"

"Home!! This is her home. You're not her family, I am. Were where you her whole life the whole time I raised her?" he exploded

"Were were you when _I_ saved her life" Squall said before turning his back and walking form the room

Caraway watched Squall walk away, then he called out and a Soldier entered the room

"yes sir"

"Find out everything you can about Squall Leonheart"

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Next chapter Rinoa finds out the details of Squalls mission and shows up in deling city, but her presence only complicated things for Squall...


	5. a family affair

**Disclaimer:**I don't own final fantasy 8. See i own a copy of it, but we're not even speaking anymore. it knows what it did!!!!!!!

**Note:**Well heres another chapter, a bit longer than the others. We see Rinoa show up in this chapter and the end of this chapter kind of kicks off the big thing of the story, so give it a read. Many thanks to r, and renegade seraph for reading the story and reviewing. i like when people review : ). also thanks toWayne who helped me out with the plot of this chapter and also for letting me know that my writing actually means something and of course chapter goes to Hannah my pkot (yes pkot) bunny helper extrodinaire!!!!keep on rocking! hope y'all like the story xx

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When Squall got back to the protest base he decided it would be best to call Headmaster Cid and let him know what had gone on at the meeting, because know that Squall though of it, it was quite a lot that had happened. General Caraway was the person causing this major upheaval. Rinoa's father, Squalls father in law.

Squall dialled the number for Garden and Xu picked up

"Xu, it's Squall"

"oh, hi Squall. Do you want to talk to Rinoa?" Xu asked politely

'_Rinoa' _Squall thought _'should I even tell Rinoa. Maybe it's best I tell her myself when I get back'_

"Actually Xu, is Cid there?"

"of course commander". Squall heard a few bleeps and then the familiar voice of Cid

"Hello Squall. How is it going down there?"

Squall explained what had happened to Cid, and about his confrontation with Caraway

"yes well" Cid said concernedly on the end of the line "I suppose the fact of you and Rinoa would have made things a lot worse."

"Yes and Seifer of course. He always enjoys making things worse." Squall said shooting a glance at Seifer who was now talking to the pouty young blonde girl who was hanging on his every word as if he were some kind of god. "Moron" Squall muttered under his breath

"Well yes. I think I shall have to have a word with him about all this when he gets back to garden" Cid said seriously

After a few more minutes of conversation Squall hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes. He was incredibly tired.

"C'mon you guys" he said to his friends "Lets go to the hotel now. We'll come back in the morning"

Squall lay in his room, staring at the ceiling. He was tired but he could not sleep. It had been nearly two years since he had been in a room, or a bed by himself and he started to feel lonely. Glancing at the clock he saw it was 10.25. It had felt much later to him, but he guessed that 10.25 was probably a reasonable time still to call Rinoa. It had been a day and he already missed her like crazy, and with all the stress of the confrontation if there was any time he needed to speak to her it was now. He knew that somehow just hearing her voice would calm him down. But when he dialled the number for their room at Garden he got no answer. He rang the main number again and Xu answered.

"Hey Xu, Squall again. Ok can I speak to Rinoa"

"Actually Squall she's not here" Xu said

A tiny alarm went off in Squalls head "What?? Where is she?"

"I'm not sure. She went out a few minutes ago. But I'm sure she's fine. Why don't you call again in the morning"

Squall agreed, and then hung up the phone. He knew he'd never get to sleep now………

Squall was woken up the next morning by a loud knocking on his door "Dude, it's Irvine. We really should get going you know"

"yeeeh!" came Selphies' voice "Or that scary red haired woman might eat us!!"

Squall could hear Zell laughing and was quite unsure as to why practically the whole gang was congregating outside his door.

He dressed quickly, and half an hour later the whole gang were downstairs in the Hotel lobby waiting for -who else-Seifer. After about another 5 minutes he came strolling down the stairs "Morning all." he said in that Seifer-ish way that Zell found so annoying

"What time do you call this?" Zell said crossing his arms

"I don't know, a watch doesn't really go with my outfit" Seifer grinned.

Zell muttered something under his breath and then stormed out the door.

Within another half hour the gang were back at the protest base they had been at yesterday. As soon as the Red-haired woman opened the door she said "Oh, so you finally decided to show up did you"

"It's only 10 am!" Selphie Squealed

The woman just huffed and then wandered into the house followed by the gang.

"I do not like her" Irvine muttered quietly "She is the devil!"

Selphie squealed with laughter and the woman turned around and shot an evil glance at Selphie.

"You're the leader right?" she said to Squall.

'_Oh god, what now' he thought_

"Yep. that's me" he said

"May I have a word in private please". The woman lead him into a small room of the main area and looked at him crossing her arms.

"Well?" he asked

"I must say. I am not very impressed."  
"I'm sorry?" Squall asked. Not only was this woman rude she was ungrateful

" I can't say I'm exactly impressed with the service you've provided. You bring a group of teenagers along with you, who can't even seem to get along with each other, one of whom is dressed like a cowboy, and one of whom has done nothing but cause trouble. So far you've solved nothing. You've used the one negotiation meeting we had to have an argument about your wife, who quite frankly I really don't care about and you have not achieved anything that could be called useful. We are no where further for you being here"

Squall opened his mouth to answer when there was a loud knocking on the door. After a few seconds the knocking came again, and realising no one else was going to open it the woman stormed out of the room to the door.

Squall just sat there in disbelief at what he had just heard. Had he actually just been told he wasn't doing his job properly?

He heard the woman open the door and say "Who are you?"

"Hi. I'm…" But Squall didn't need to hear the end of the sentence. He recognised the voice immediately, it was so familiar. He stepped out of the room and his suspicions were dead right

"Rinoa??" he asked in pure shock

"there you go." Rinoa said to the red haired woman with a smile "I'm Rinoa Leonheart"

"Leonheart." The woman turned and glared at Squall "Your wife I assume?"

"Rinoa what are you doing here?"

She stepped inside the house, and as soon as she did Squall grabbed her arm and lead her into the other room.

"You don't seem happy to see me" she said

"Why are you here? I told you stay at Garden" he asked kind of angrily. He knew that things would only get a hell of a lot more complicated

"well that was fine, until I found out that my father was the one behind this all"

"Who the hell told you?" Squall asked

"Cid. But Squall you should have told me."  
"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd turn up here and that's only going to make things complicated. More complicated than they are. You should go home now"

"No" Rinoa said

"yes, I'm telling you go home."

"No. you can't make me Squall. This concerns me too."

Squall was about to say something when the red haired woman called over to him "May we speak again please?" she hissed.

Squall knew he was in for it again. But then again, even he was a little mad about Rinoa showing up so he guessed the woman would be too.

"Wait here" he said to Rinoa as he walked over to speak to the woman.

Rinoa stood wondering what the woman was saying to Squall when she saw Seifer wandering over. "Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked

"I heard about my father being involved in this all. I can't believe him…"

"Yeh" Seifer said "yeh, you should of heard the type of things he was saying to Squall as well"

"Like what?" Rinoa asked

Seifer let out a long low whistle "All kind of things. He was just completely up in his face." he could see Rinoa was getting madder and madder.

"what kind of things was he actually saying"

"ooh wouldn't like to say some of them" Seifer said with a little Seifer laugh "that he was an arrogant son of a bitch, that he ruined you r life all that you know"

"that's it" Rinoa breathed starting to leave the room.

"were are you going?"

"To see Caraway. How dare he say crap like that" then she stormed out of the room, straight past Zell who confusedly asked her where she was going, but she didn't answer him. Turning to were she had been he noticed Seifer standing there with a little grin on his face, typing something, a message, on his phone..

'_is he up to something?'_ Zell wondered. He walked over to him "where's Rinoa going?"

Seifer gave a little shrug, snapped the phone closed and put it in his pocket "I think she went to see her father."

"WHAT?" Zell asked "Did you put her up to that?"

Seifer laughed "Calm it chicken-wuss. I only told her what happened and she just stormed off"

"You're an idiot" Zell muttered leaving the room, figuring he should tell Squall.

He walked into the room were Squall was arguing with the red haired woman

"S'cuse me. Squall, Rinoa's gone to see caraway."

"What?" Squall said "Why"

"Something Seifer said I think"

"Seifer. He's an idiot, this is not going to end well."

He walked over to were Seifer was "What the hell did you say to Rinoa. You know this is only going to make things worse!"

" I didn't say much. She just went mad. Maybe if your so concerned you should be going after her."

Realising that Seifer was right, Squall grabbed the keys to the car and ran for the door.

Rinoa stepped out of the taxi in front of her old house. She headed down the drive way and noticed the Guard on the door. He was the same guard that had been there for as long as Rinoa could remember he was a close friend of her fathers.

"Miss Heartilly. What are you doing here?" he asked

"let me in I want to see my father"

The guard stepped aside "Of course Miss Heartilly"

"it's Leonheart. And it's Mrs" she said before walking through the house

She headed straight for her fathers study ,were she knew he would be, and found him sitting behind his desk.

"Rinoa?" he asked shocked "what are you doing here?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded

"Excuse me?"

"who the hell do you think you are."  
"me? I'm not the one who disappears for two years then comes back yelling and screaming. You'd do well to calm yourself down"

"I will not calm down. What the hell do you think gave you the right to speak to Squall the way I know you did?"

"Ahhh yes. Squall, your husband, I believe. Why did you think you didn't have to tell me you were getting married"

'Because it was my choice. You're not a part of my life anymore."  
"You call what you did over the past few years a life?" the general gave a little laugh

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"you run off with some group of people, get caught up in some stupid battle and you wind up a sorceress because of some stupid man and then you make the ridiculously stupid decision to marry thin man? I never raised you to be so stupid"

"raised me. Is that what you call what you did? I'd say it was more like try and own me. And none of what happened was Squalls fault. If it weren't for him I'd be dead. He's a hero"

"He's an idiot" Caraway muttered

"You don't know him, and you don't know me. But next time you see him you'll treat him with more respect because he's 1000 times the person you could even dream of being"

"you always were naïve that way"

"and what do you mean by that…I …" at that moment the door swung open and Squall came into the room.

"Rinoa what are you doing?" Squall asked

"I'm putting this guy in his place."

"you stupid little girl…I'm not sure whose more ridiculous you or him. I…" but before he could finish his sentence Rinoa had already lunged at him obviously determined in ripping his annoying face off. Fortunately for Caraway, Squall reached out and grabbed Rinoa around the waist, restraining her.

As much as he would have liked to see her get one over on Caraway, he knew that violence in this case would not really solve anything. She struggled against his grip angrily, and Squall found it actually quite hard to hold onto her as she was actually quite strong

"Let go of me." she said as she struggled, trying desperately to break his grip on her.

"you need to calm down. This isn't going to solve anything" Squall said trying to drag her back away from the General

"I will not calm down" she screamed "I'll kill him"

"Rinoa" Squall said tightening his hold around her waist and pulling her back "Just calm down. Don't be crazy, You're making things worse."

The General laughed "See even he thinks your insane"  
"I'm not insane. You're just,…evil"

"Yes" Caraway said "I'm the evil one. Not you, the sorceress"

She started to struggle towards him again, but Squalls hold on her still couldn't be broken

"I really recommend that you stop" Squall said to him

"You're so naïve, and deluded" the General spat at his daughter "do you honestly believe that you've found happiness. Think you've found love? He doesn't love you. No one could ever love you"

At that point Squall couldn't restrain her and she broke his grip and slapped the General hard across his face. Before Squall even had time to process this, the General lifted his hand and smacked Rinoa in the face and she fell to the floor. Before Squall could process _that_, he had already reached out and punched Caraway in the face.

He picked Rinoa up of the floor and said "we're leaving".

But when he turned to the door he saw there was a line of Galbadian Soldiers there, each with their guns no pointed at Squall and Rinoa.

"what the hell" Squall muttered

The General laughed, despite the fact there was blood pouring from his nose.

"why would I let you leave. I've got you both exactly were I want you"

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Dun dun dun!!!!! what exactly does caraway mean by that??? well if u want to know that, and more twists, read the next chapter which is coming soon! xx


	6. the truth behind the lies

**Disclaimer:**the usual

**Note:** well another chapter, explains a bit more what is really going on. Thanks a bunch to lilnaych, r, and renegade seraph, my reviewers for this story. thanks to wayne for all his support of my work. And thanks a million to Hannah my lil pkot bunny helper extrodinaire and my sock rocking best mate. hope y'all like the story xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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Squall scanned the room quickly. Every door was now blocked by Galbadian soldiers pointing guns in his direction.

"What the hell is going on here?" Squall demanded

Caraway laughed to himself "I though you were supposed to be intelligent"

Squall glared at the general "You never answered my question."

Caraway gestured to some of the soldiers and 5 of them came across the room and grabbed squall, 4 restraining him while another tied his hands together behind his back. He tried to struggle against them, but he was outnumbered, unarmed and had about 10 guns pointed in his direction.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rinoa yelled at her father

Caraway ignored her and made another gesture and another few of the soldiers came over and tied her hand the way they'd tied Squalls. Rinoa managed to injure one of the soldiers slightly by kicking him sharply in the shin causing him to collapse to the ground for a second or two, but he managed to push himself back up pretty quickly.

"You bitch" he hissed, reaching out and punching Rinoa in the stomach, causing her to double over and cry out in pain.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH" Squall yelled, determined to break out of the grip of the soldiers and kill the guy. But the soldiers were too many and too strong and kept him restrained. "You'll pay for that" he hissed at the soldier, but one of the soldiers behind him whacked the back of his gun into Squalls back. "You better calm down" the soldier laughed.

Caraway, after observing all of this, turned to one of the doors and gestured for the soldiers to follow him. Squall was then dragged through the door and down a flight of stairs, Rinoa being dragged behind him, and they were then both thrown into a very cold basement. It was bare, there was nothing really in it except for a few chairs, some very dim lamps and a lot more armed soldiers.

Caraway once again gave a single gesture and the soldiers dragged Squall and Rinoa over to the chairs, threw then down on them and then tied more rope around there hands, securing them to the back of the chairs.

"You're a fucking psychopath" Squall hissed at the general, who simply laughed.

The soldiers then spread out, guarding the perimeter of the room, all guns still pointed in the direction of Squall and Rinoa, except for one guard who remained in the middle next to Caraway.

Squall turned to Rinoa and saw tears were streaming down her face. "Are you alright?" he asked her. Slowly she nodded.

Squall turned back to the General "Why are you doing this. what do you want?"

"You haven't figured it all out yet? I must say I'm a little disappointed in you Squall"

"Just answer the damn question. This whole mission, was it all a setup?"

"Not quite" Caraway laughed "But your getting closer"

"Your twisted, do you know that?" Rinoa spat

"Oh Rinoa. Where did I go wrong with you. You ended up leading some pathetic resistance, nearly getting yourself killed, becoming a sorceress and marrying a pathetic excuse for a SeeD. And your calling me twisted. Why do you hate me so much"

"Because your stark raving mad" Squall snapped

"Was I asking you" The general narrowed his eyes at Squall "I was talking to my daughter"

"You were talking to my wife." Squall hissed

Caraway gave one of his evil little laughs before punching Squall in the face.

After a few seconds recovering, Squall lifted his head and said "Man, are you in trouble when I get free"

"And what makes you think you'll ever get free?" laughed the soldier standing next to Caraway. Squall just glared at him. He was trying desperately to think of a way out of this situation while trying not to let his desperation and fear show.

"Why don't you just explain what's going on?" Rinoa yelled

"Well, yes" Caraway said starting to pace back and forwards "I must say I'm quite proud of the whole plan really"

"What plan?" Squall demanded

"well, you see, I knew straight away when those protesters called Esthar. Nothing much escapes me. And I knew that Esthar would send soldiers or someone in to do something, try and stop me. But you see then I found out from, we'll say a source of mine, that it was in fact Garden who would be sending people. But then things just got even easier, when it turned out to be you on the mission"

"Wait let me guess. I'm the Commander of Garden so your going to hold me hostage and force garden to make Esthar what…..drop the limitations on your army. Predictable."

"Not quite. You see that was my original plan. But then lets just say thanks to someone, things got even easier. Especially.." he turned to Rinoa "When you turned up"

"What the hell are you talking about. And who the hell is this 'someone'" Squall asked feeling slightly confused

"You really don't need to know anymore" Caraway said "Well except you need to know what you're going to do if you want to live"

"What call Garden and get me to get them to cancel there contract with the protesters?"

"No. I'm thinking bigger. I say we skip Garden all together. We're going straight to the top, we'll get Esthar themselves to drop the limitations and a few other things too."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"Well, I'm thinking as far as leverage goes, Son of the president is pretty valuable"

Squalls jaw dropped. He couldn't believe his ears. How had Caraway known about Laguna being Squalls father. Squall had told hardly anyone about this. Rinoa knew of course, but there was no was she would have told her father. And the only other people who knew were Zell, Irvine, Selphie, Quistis and Cid and Edea. But how would Caraway of known. Squall had not made much of a relationship with Laguna, they had met a few times since Squall discovered the truth, and there was some trust starting to form, but there relationship was far from close or stable.

"H-how on earth did you know about that?" Squall stuttered confusedly

"Like I said. Someone very knowledgeable has been of great help to me. But you don't actually need to know. Yet. But here's what you'll do if you want to live. Your going to call your father, that Laguna, the president and tell him all our demands. If they aren't met, well, you'll be killed"

"It's never going to work" Squall said

"And why is that" Caraway asked smugly

"See, I may be leverage, but if you ring Esthar and say you kidnapped Lagunas' son, there never going to believe you. They'd want proof, want me to speak to them. And see you can't use me as leverage against myself, I'll just refuse to speak, and you can kill me. But then you'll never get what you want."

"Ahhh, indeed. But then, something happened that your not thinking of, and that makes my life so much easier. "

"And what would that be" Squall said tiredly

"Well, I found out your lovely, little wife was on her way, and so I set the plan in motion. So now, I do have leverage against you." Caraway laughed evily "You'll call, or we'll kill her"

Squall was shocked. Not only shocked at Caraways plan but shocked that he hadn't figured this out earlier. He was also sickened by it all. "She's your daughter. You'd kill your own daughter just to get some power?"

"Well, I don't think I'll have to. It probably wont come to that. There are ways of making you talk. And I don't believe that you'd let me touch her. You'd much rather just give me what I want. But if I have to…then I will"

"So who are you working with. Who told you Laguna was my father, and who told you Rinoa was going to come here?" Squall demanded

At that moment the door at the top of the stairs swung open and someone started walking down the stairs, heavy black boots clunking on each step.

"C'mon Squall. I thought that'd be an easy one" said a familiar voice. Squall looked up at the figure standing at the bottom of the stairs and found himself staring straight at Seifer.

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well am hoping to try and get this story updated pretty soon. dont know waht people thought of the seifer thing, but i thought it was an okay little twist. please review n let me know what y'all think, and watch out for more chapters coming soon xxx


	7. seifers master plan

**Disclaimer;**i do not own ff8. i sold it to a sweedish runaway.

**note:** well heres another chapter. hope you like it. thanks to r for the reviews, and also thanks to wayne and of course to hannah my pkot bunny or should i say creative consultant lol. enjoy y'all xx

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"Seifer?" Rinoa cried

"Yep. It's me" he laughed and walked over to Squall "I must say I'm a little hurt that you didn't think of me sooner"

"Ohh I'm sorry. I actually gave the respect of thinking you were a decent human being. Of course I know I was wrong" Squall snapped

Seifer just laughed and then turned to the General, "I'll take care of these two" he said, and the General nodded and walked up the stairs.

"So you're in on all this?" Rinoa asked Seifer disbelievingly

Seifer clapped in a slow sarcastic manner and then turned to Squall "Wow she's a clever one"

"Oh shut up" Squall hissed

"Now there's no need to get mad" Seifer chuckled

"Why and how? What's your part in this?" Squall asked

"Well, I thought you really would have figured all of it out. But seeing as you haven't I'll explain it. See I was in Deling City not to long back, and there were all these riots. Anyway there was a rumour going around that it was Caraway re-recruiting the Galbadian army.So I decided to pay him a little visit. And that's how it all started…."

"So really" Squall snapped "You were against us all along. You were going behind our backs against us. After we took you back into Garden, made you a SeeD"

Seifer laughed and swung his blade the tip resting on Squalls nose "A SeeD? Like I ever really wanted to be a SeeD. Really I should have got your job, but seeing as I couldn't, you think I'd want to be a SeeD? Ha! Not me Squall, I want power. Now please let me finish my story" he took the blade and swung it over his shoulder

"See Caraway already knew that that little group of freaks your working for had called Esthar and I pretty much figured that your pops over in Esthar wouldn't go himself and would probably send people from Garden…"

"How did you know Laguna was my father?" Squall interrupted

Seifer swung his blade this time placing the tip on Squalls forehead

"Did I not ask you to let me finish my story?? If you must know, I over heard Cid and Edea discussing it once. But you wont be asking anymore questions. So back to my story. So imagine when I got back to Garden and found out that it was you who would be doing the mission. And I oh so cleverly got myself on the mission. See I knew there was no way you'd bring your little wife here with you and similarly you'd never leave me around her without you being there, I mean your worried she still has a thing for me ain't ya. You were worried something would happen between us…?" Seifer laughed and Rinoa snapped "You wish"

"Well anyway" he said ignoring Rinoa "any which way, you weren't going to leave me behind with her, so it was easy to get here. Then of course, you cant control your lil missus and she showed up anyway. Then that's when things got really fun. It was easy enough to get her to go yell at her father all I had to do was say he'd slagged you off Squall and she went running. And I know you, so I knew you'd go running after her. And then bang-that's how we ended up here"

"Your evil Seifer" Rinoa hissed "What do you even get out of all this?"

"Well, apart from this oh so enjoyable situation, I get power. Once Esthar drop the limitations and the army's back in power, well guess whose going to be in charge…."

"I would say you, but that seems too easy of an answer" Squall said sarcastically.

"whatever Squall" Seifer laughed "Soon I'll have all the power and you'll be…. Well I'd say dead, but damn now I've gone and ruined the surprise ending"

"Your pathetic Seifer" Squall said " See really I think your just jealous and that's why you want me dead"

Seifer laughed loudly "Jealous of you? And why would that be?"

" Because you want what I have. You want my job, my power, lets face it You want my wife, and you know I'm not as pathetic as you, at least some people trust me, at least I wasn't outcast."

Seifer swung his gun blade and whacked Squall in the side of the head with it. Squall had clearly struck a nerve. "Are you asking to be killed?" Seifer snarled

"Go ahead, kill me. But see I'm a little vital to your plan so if you kill me you'll never get your power."

"Whatever Squall. I think it's about time you made that call to Esthar, see once you've done that I can get rid of you." ,he crouched down so he was face to face with Squall "and since your so convinced I want her, maybe when you're dead I'll have your wife"

"Son of a bitch. I'm not calling anyone" Squall snapped at him

Seifer clicked his fingers and 4 of the guards from the sides of the room came over to Squall dragged up from were he was sitting and restrained him. "Ok" Seifer said clenching his fists "it's time to make you talk". He swung his fist and it hit Squall dead on the nose.

"Really honourable Seifer" Squall muttered, despite the fact he was in pain "fighting someone who can't fight back"

"Feel like making any calls yet Squall?"

'_What am I supposed to do'_ Squall thought to himself '_I can't take too much of a beating, but I can't let him get what he wants either'_

"No" Squall said trying to struggle against the guards, but he wasn't strong enough.

Seifer swung his fist again, this time hitting Squall in the stomach.

"How bout now" Seifer asked cockily

Squall shook his head "Piss off"

Seifer threw too quick punches, another to the stomach and one to the side of Squalls head. But Squall still refused to talk, even as Seifer kept punching him. Blood was pouring from his nose and the side of his head but he was determined not to give in.

After a few minutes of this Seifer sighed "I'm getting bored Squall" he walked over to one of the soldiers and told them basically to carry on what he was doing. Then Seifer gestured to the to other guards to follow him and turned and stomped up the stairs "Later Squall" he called out before slamming shut the door at the top of the stairs. The guard that Seifer had passed duty over to drew a knife out of his pocket. "Lets see if we can't make you talk yet" he said with a little laugh. He took the tip of the knife and ran it down the side of Squalls face causing more blood to drip to the ground.

'_Damn it, I don't want to give in but…'_

"Ready to give in yet?" the guard said, the knife gleaming under the dim lights

Rinoa who was in tears at the other side of the room cried "Squall just do what they want, please it's not worth this.."

"You should listen to her" the guard said "as annoying as she is"

Squall didn't say anything, he was too busy trying to block out the pain.

"ok" the guard laughed "have it your way" he took the knife and jammed into Squalls shoulder

Squalls head dropped. He couldn't take much more of this. He felt close to passing out.

"I still wont do it" he muttered. He could hear Rinoa crying at the other side of the room, getting louder "please just leave him alone, stop this" she cried

The guard stormed over to were she was and put the side of his knife against her throat. "Man you are really annoying me. You need to shut the hell up screaming"

Squall lifted his head "Leave her alone"

"Oh, so now you feel like talking. I see. Now I know how to make you give in…" he swung his arm round and whacked Rinoa across the face with the back of his hand.

"Stop it" Squall yelled. He could see a tiny trickle of blood on the side of her face, and this hurt him nearly as much as when he was the one being hit.

The guy pulled her back by her hair and placed the tip of his knife on her other cheek. He swiftly pulled the knife down causing a large cut.

Squall heard her scream and he just couldn't take it anymore "All right" he called across the room "all right I'll call. I'll do whatever you want, Just leave her alone"

"thought you might say that" the Guard said. He nodded to the others who were restraining Squall and they dropped him to the floor. "wait here" the guard hissed and him and the other soldiers headed up the stairs -presumably to get caraway- leaving Squall and Rinoa in the room on there own.

Squall who was hunched on the floor in pain, pushed himself up and managed to drag himself over to were Rinoa was, her hands still tied to the back of the chair.

"are you alright" he asked her breathlessly. It hurt to talk. It hurt to move. He reached around and managed to untie the ropes around her arms.

She lifted her hand and placed it on the side of his face "I'm fine, but you're not, you're hurt badly."

"I'll be fine" Squall lied. "but we have to get you out of here"

"Just what I was thinking" came the voice of General caraway who was now walking down the stairs. He clicked to the guards who walked down past him and grabbed Rinoa. "take her away" he said casually.

"What the hell are you doing?" Squall yelled "I agreed to do what you wanted".

The general shrugged as the guards dragged Rinoa up the stair case "Squall.." she yelled out to him, but there was nothing he could do

"Rinoa…" he yelled , but she had already been dragged through the door and it was now shut.

"See, I don't want you to try anything" Caraway said as he tossed a phone into Squalls hands "You can have her back after you make the call. Well maybe…."

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more coming soon. leave me a review n let me know wat you think


	8. the call

**disclaimer:**well guess

**note: **well this carries driectly on from last chapter. hope y'all like it. thanks to r and renegade seraph for there reviews and my rocking fanfic peeps Wayne and pkot girl hannah. hope everyone likes the chapter.

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"You better not hurt her!" Squall yelled at Caraway

"Well, what I have to do to her is all dependent on how co-operative you are" Caraway said in a cool, business like tone

"you're twisted. Seriously. That's your own daughter your talking about. You must really have no soul"

" I do what it takes to get the outcome I need Squall"

"like making a deal with someone like Seifer? Although, I actually have to say, that it was pretty good acting the other day. I honestly believed you didn't know who Seifer was, and that you only vaguely remembered me, and that you had no idea about me and Rinoa, when really all along you knew it all. Maybe when this stupid plan of yours fails, you should go into acting" Squall tried to remain calm even though pain was wracking his body from his assault by the guards.

Caraway laughed "And what makes you think this plan will fail. Although I am quite impressed that I fooled you all so easily. But I'll admit that I actually didn't know you were married to my daughter. Your friend seifer left that part out the first time. But that's enough for general conversation. Let's get to this call you'll be making"

"Just tell me what to say and I'll say it if you promise to let Rinoa go."

"You'll do it anyway" Caraway said pulling a pistol out of his pocket and loading bullets into it. He pressed the end of the gun on Squalls temple "or I'll shoot you"

"I keep telling you, you can kill me if you want but then your plan fails"

"Yeh, but if you keep pissing me off, I'll wait until you've called then I'll shoot you. Then who'll be there to protect your precious Rinoa?"

"Fine-just tell me what to say" Squall conceded. He didn't care too much about what they did to him, but he was not in anyway going to jeopardise Rinoas life.

"Well" Caraway said starting to pace back and forth again "you're going to call Laguna, and tell him that we have you hostage and that unless our demands are met, we will kill you. Then I'll speak to him"

"Fine". Squall reluctantly dialled Lagunas number.

Ring ring ring

Ring ring ring

"Hello president Loires office, whose speaking please?"

"It's Squall. Squall Leonhart. I need to speak to my father"

"is it urgent?"

"Yes. Very"

There were some tones and bleeps and then the familiar voice came over the line "Laguna Loire"

"Laguna, it's Squall. We have a situation"

"Situation" The president repeated

"Yes, the Deling mission. It's gotten complicated. I'm being held hostage."

"What. What's going on. Why?" Laguna cried into the phone.

It was at that point Caraway snatched the phone out of Squalls hand.

"This is General Caraway of Deling" he boomed into the phone "And as you have just heard we do have your son, and his wife for that matter, as hostages. And if our demands are not met, then they will be killed"

Squall could hear Lagunas muffled voice on the other end of the phone, but he could not make out what he was saying.

"Well" Caraway said into the phone "For a start you will immediately withdraw from your contract with Balamb Garden and the protest groups in this city.You will not send any more opposition. Furthermore you will officially cancel the limitations on our army. Finally you will send representatives to negotiate us regaining some territory back. So what do you say Loire?"

Squall again heard the muffled and long response but did not know what was being said. But he figured from the smile he saw spread across Caraways face that he had got his own way. "Very well. Tuesday it is. Goodbye" he said

before snapping the phone shut. Well" he turned to Squall and laughed "looks like my plan was successful after all. An official speech declaring the limitations dropped will be made shortly and after that I will be meeting with your fathers council to discuss territory."

"Well good for you. I want to see Rinoa now"

Caraway just laughed. "You really think I'm going to let you see her? Your not important anymore, it doesn't matter what you want"

"What so you're just going to shoot me now? Don't you think Laguna will be a little reluctant to negotiate when he finds out you killed his son, you do lose your leverage then"

"Ah yes. But he will not know until he arrives here and by then, he'll already be here and theres nothing he can do. But no Squall, I'm not going to shoot you. I did promise your father I wouldn't murder you. So I think I'll just…leave you here. Look at you, you're half dead anyway. Then I wont have done anything. It saves me a job"

Caraway turned his back and started to walk away when Squall called out after him

"this wont change anything. This wont change how she feels"

Caraway whipped around "What?"

"Face it. You can't stand that Rinoa's in love with me can you. You just can't accept that she made her own life"

"it amazes me that you can be so arrogant when I hold what's left of your life in my hands" Caraway said

"yeh, well you wanna know what amazes me? That Rinoa was raised by you, yet she turned out to be such an incredible person"

Caraway responded by whacking Squall across the side of the face with the gun. Squall felt all the blood rush to his head and his pain levels were going through the roof and he was loosing more and more blood.

"it just bugs you so much, me and Rinoa, doesn't it? Well no matter what you do to me or her you can not change the fact that she does really love me and she is my wife"

Caraway swung his fist and punched Squall in the mouth, and blood started trickling down his chin

"blood, Squall, is thicker than water"

"yeh, but love is stronger than anything"

Caraway just glared at Squall before kicking him in the stomach which caused Squall to collapse completely untill he was lying on the floor

"I'm done with you" Caraway said "I'd better go deal with my daughter"

"Let her go" Squall said through gritted teeth

"See I can't. I let her go and she runs to the police or Esthar…."

"What are you gonna do to her?" Squall demanded

Caraway gave an evil laugh. "live long enough…and maybe you'll hear her Scream"

"You bastard!"

Caraway narrowed his eyes and kicked Squall twice in the stomach again before turning and walking up the stairs.

"Do not hurt her" Squall managed to call after him

But Caraway ignored him and carried on up the stairs. When he reached the top, before slamming the door behind him he called "I'll give my daughter your goodbye"

Squall lay on the floor, blood pouring from various cuts bruises and wounds. His whole body ached, pain coursing through every inch of it. He could feel himself getting weaker and weaker and his eyes were starting to lose focus, his vision blurring. He closed his eyes and the minute he did a memory came flooding back in to his head. It was the morning before he'd left for Deling, when he said goodbye to Rinoa outside Garden.

She reached out and took the chain from around her neck, tears falling, and gave it to him.

"Now…" she said between choking tears "now you cant go and die on me…because you have to get this back to me…."

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let me know what you think, more coming soon xx


	9. try

**Disclaimer:** i dont own final fantasy 8 or the characters. i wish i did. i wish i owned Squall sigh. but nope, property of square-enix

**Note:**Okay btw start with apologies. i was talking to someone and we were debating wheteher any of this story has been to violent to be rated T, so i was gonna move it to M, but its nowere close to that badly violent , so i'll just put this as a warning This chapter contains a little bit of some serious violence but it is very short and not too graphic umkay. so we all clear, yay. ok thanks to everyone whos been revieiwng thanks to renegade seraph, c.ho.y, r, lilnaych and Idryll (hope i didnt keep you waiting too long Lol) and thanks to my lovely little pkot bunny friends hannah! ohhh. heeeel yeeeeeh. enjoy the story y'all

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Rinoa sat terrified in the room full of Guards, her hands still tied behind her back. She knew her own life was in great danger, but that was not what was really terrifying her. Her father had gone down to the basement a long time ago and was yet to come back. She could only imagine what could be going on between her father and Squall, and she was deeply scared and concerned now. Squall had been in no fighting state when she last saw him…At that moment she heard footsteps coming up from the basement and Caraway walked into the room, a kind of twisted smile etched out on his features.

"Where's Squall?" Rinoa asked him immediately

"Squall" he said as casually as if he was discussing the weather "Is not an issue anymore"

"What did you do to him you bastard?" She yelled at him

But caraway ignored her, strolled across the room and addressed the soldiers in the room "We have succeeded in our plan. Congratulations"

"You really are fucked up you know that?" Rinoa yelled across the room at her father

"I'm sorry" Caraway demanded

"You heard me. You're sick and twisted. You did god knows what to Squall and you act like it's nothing!!!"

"It is nothing. He's nothing" He said in an acidic tone

"He's my husband!!!!!"

"And god only knows why. I have no idea what on earth you actually see in him"

Rinoa could hardly believe the words she was hearing. "I see everything" she responded quickly "I see everything I want. I see everything that is good in him. He's everything your not, everything you could never dream of being"

Caraway just laughed and headed for the door

"What about me? What's your plan for me then?" She yelled after him. Unfortunately it didn't come out sounding as strong as she would have liked it to, as a fresh wave of tears broke as she started to speak. Was squall really gone? _'Will I ever see him again…?'_

"Frankly" caraway began emotionlessly "I have no use for you any more, no plans". He gestured to the soldiers in the room "But I'm sure these guys may have some ideas. Goodbye Rinoa" he said, walking out of the room and closing the door.

And that was when Rinoa really got scared. There were 7 soldiers in the room, so the odds were definitely stacked against her. She was incredibly worried what these guys would do to her, but deep inside, she hurt more for Squall. She couldn't even begin to accept the idea that he might be gone. Dead. Murdered by her own father, and she knew if he was it would be all her fault.

One of the Soldiers-the leader, whom earlier had taken charge of beating up Squall came over to Rinoa. H placed one of his hands on the side of her face, and his other he ran down the inside of her neck "Now" he said leaning in close to her face "What do we do with a pretty little thing like you"

Rinoa, feeling that she had no other choice, spat in the guys face. The guy looked annoyed and after wiping his face he whacked Rinoa across the face with the back of his hand.  
Damn it" he hissed "Well that was real lady-like. Your husband's a lucky guy. Or should I say _was_ a lucky guy"

"How dare you! You don't get to talk about him you son of a bitch!"

The evil guy just laughed his evil laugh before he once again violently grabbed hold of Rinoas hair, dragged her upwards and slammed her against the nearest wall

"You're an arrogant little bitch aren't you. Its time someone really did teach you a lesson"

Rinoa didn't know exactly what he intended to do to her, and she dint really care to find out. She knew she had no choice but to try and defend herself. She raised her knee with as much force as she could and it connected with the guys stomach. It didn't buy her much time, and it only seemed to make him mad. He took only a few seconds to recover and when he did he reached out and grabbed Rinoa around the throat and tightened his grip "I'm really sick of you now" he said continuing to tighten his grip on her neck. Rinoa started to struggle to breathe . She could feel the air being cut off and trapped. Her feet were now dangling a few inches above the floor and she could feel her breath and her strength being choked away as the guy kept tightening his grip. She could feel her eyes fluttering open and closed and her lips gasping for air.

She knew this would probably be it for her…but then she heard the sound of the doors being burst open and she forced her eyes open. And when she did she thought she was hallucinating…was that ZELL?

The guy, hearing the sudden commotion, turned around and released his grip on Rinoa letting her drop to the floor. She coughed uncontrollably, trying to get some of the air back in her. 'Zell?" she gasped but she realised that it didn't come out out loud.

"What the hell?" one of the soldiers yelled "who the hell are you"

"We're the people here to stop you crazy assholes!!" Zell cried punching his fists in the air. Blinking again and trying to restore her vision fully she saw that Zell was not alone. Behind him stood Irvine and Selphie, Quistis and a lot of what looked to be Garden students.

Zell disabled the nearest guy to him with a swift punch while the rest of the soldiers, including some who had run in upon hearing the commotion, descended into a conflict with the SeeD.

Zell ducked through the fights and ran over to Rinoa.

"Rinoa, thank god! Are you okay??"

"Whats going on?" Rinoa asked her breath still slightly catching in her throat

"Well, I got worried. You and Squall you'd been gone along time. Way to long. So we had the hunch to get backup, come check it out. Good job we did! Hey, where's Squall?"

"Oh my god. Squall!" Rinoa cried forcing herself up off the ground

"You go find Squall. I'll hold 'em here and then we'll all get out ok. And be careful" Zell said before heading back into the fight.

Rinoa ran to the basement and down the stairs as fast as she could, her heels clicking loudly on the stone steps. She could hear her heartbeat as loud as she could hear the click-clacking as her heart pounded fiercely against her chest. The unpleasant, dingy lights cast a harsh shade into the room. As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs her eyes settled on the sight that she had been praying she would never have to see. Lying on the stone floor, his body looking battered and broken was Squall.

"God no" She cried as she ran over to him and knelt down where he lay. She brushed his fringe away from his face, and in the harsh light his wounds looked even more serious. There was still blood trickling from various places on his face.

His eyes were closed and he was still, but Rinoa could feel a pulse and knew he was still alive.

"Squall?" she said tears dripping from her eyes and onto his face "Squall, baby its me. Can you hear me"

Squalls eyes started to slowly open. "Rinoa…" he whispered

Rinoa couldn't help but smile a little. He was at least alive. But he wasn't very strong. His movements were slow and weak and his voice very quiet. He reached out and took Rinoa's hand, placing something into it, before closing her fingers over it. He took her hand and kissed it, just on the finger where she wore her wedding ring. She unclenched her hand and saw what he had given her. Her chain. Her chain with both of there rings hanging from it.

Weakly he said "There, I gave it back….."

Rinoa shook her head "No. No way" she started to sob "I know what this means, no I'm not taking this back. You can give it back to me when we get back home"

"Please take it Rinoa. I don't know how much longer I'm gonna make it.

"Squall! Please, please don't say that. It's going to be fine, it's gonna be okay"

"No" Squall said weakly "It's not. You should just get…get yourself out of here now. I'm sorry." Rinoa could see his eyes were glistening with tears and filled with sorrow and pain

"No, no I'm not going without you. We both go or we both stay, but It's going to be fine." she gasped her throat still hurting "See Z-Zell, Zell and everyone else is here they can easily hold off Caraways men while we get you out of here and to a hospital"

"I just don't think…."

"Dammit Squall!" Rinoa cried "Don't give up, don't let him win! Don't let him tear us apart Squall. Look I know you're hurt and really badly, but you're not dead which means we still have a chance and we have to try, I love you too much not to try"

She watched a s a small weak smile spread across Squalls features adding a slight sparkle back to his blue eyes. Beneath all the cuts and bruises, beneath the blood and the tears and beneath the mask of pain and sadness on his face he was still gorgeous, his smile was still like magic and she still saw all his strength, kindness, bravery and she found herself falling head over heels in love with him all over again in that one moment. She placed her hand on the side of his face and his blood began to trickle onto her pale skin "Please try, for me Squall"

He nodded slowly "For you"

Slowly he tried to force himself up from were he lay and it was immensely painful. His torso was bruised and blood was pouring from the deep wound in his shoulder. After sitting half way up he fell back down again "I…I can't do this…"

"You can Squall, I know you can. You're the strongest person I know, you're my hero, I need you to do this, please"

He forced himself up again and shakily he managed to stand up very slowly and support himself against the nearest wall. He placed his fingers on Rinoa's neck, which no bore a hell of a lot of red marks "What did they do to you?" he asked. His voice was still weak, but there was a tone of anger in it.

"I'm…okay"

"I'll kill them" Squall said pushing himself off the wall

"Forget it." she took one of his arms over her shoulder-hard given that he was much taller and stronger than her- to help support his weight "it's just important to get you out of here" she said heading for the staircase, but at the top of it she could see the outline of a person silhouetted against the light pouring in from the door.

"Easier said then done" said Seifer…………


	10. fighting the odds

Disclaimer: i dont own 8. so dont sue me

**Note:** well we are near the end now thanks to y'all who been reading and reviewing love ya all and hannah my pkot bunny and mrs yazoo i love ya gal! keep reading and enjoy y'all xx

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"oh my god" Rinoa cried "Not you again!"

"I actually think I should say congratulations" Seifer said taking a few steps towards Squall and Rinoa "I figured you'd both be dead by now. But here you both are. Oh well, now I get to kill you myself.". He grinned evilly

"You can't be serious…" Rinoa said

"Oh I most certainly am" He glanced over to Squall who was barely keeping himself upright "ooh you don't look so good Squall. This'll be an easy fight"

"your pathetic Seifer" Squall said as forcefully as he could manage "you're fighting me when you know there's no chance in hell I can properly fight back"

"yeh, that does seem kind of wrong" Seifer shrugged "not my problem. I came for a fight and….I'll get a fight "

"You're really really sick!" Rinoa cried "If you want to fight someone then….then fight me!"

Seifer just laughed "that's just ridiculous. I could snap you like a twig"

"You know what Seifer" Squall said lifting his head "I will fight you, and then once and for all, I'll get rid of you. I've let you off before, times when I could have killed you. This time, I wont let you off"

"Squall!" Rinoa cried "Don't be ridiculous You can barely even stand up!! You're unarmed and your injured!!! Don't do this!!!"

"I don't have a choice"

"Yeh" Seifer nodded "He's right. I mean I'm gonna kill you both anyway, why not go down with a fight". He started walking down the stairs swinging his gun blade but Rinoa ran halfway up them meeting him in the middle and stopping him in his tracks.

"Seifer" she said both angrily and desperately "Please don't do this. Will it really make you feel good fighting against someone you know cant beat you?"

Seifer pretended to think "Ermmm. Yep. It really will. But don't worry princess, I'll make it quick. Then it's your turn"

"you're messed up!" she cried

"Get out of my way" was all Seifer said

"No" Rinoa said trying to keep her voice steady and control her teas

"Get out of my way or I will force you out of my way"

"Just move Rinoa" Squall said from behind her his hand still clenched to the wound in his shoulder. "It's not worth you getting hurt". His voice was still weak, but there was determination in it.

Reluctantly, and full of a rising fear, Rinoa stepped aside and Seifer walked past her down the stairs and stood face to face with Squall who was fighting through immense pain just to stay upright.

"I guess this is it" Seifer grinned

Squall nodded "I guess it is"

Quickly and without warning Seifer swung his gun blade and Squall managed to avoid it, but barely. His vision was still blurry and his reflexes were slower than usual.

Rinoa felt completely helpless watching the two of them fight. As much as she wanted to, she could not bring herself to believe there was anyway Squall could win this fight. She tried desperately to think if there was anything she could do. There wasn't any way she could stop or restrain Seifer, she was nowhere near as strong as him. She thought of running back upstairs and finding Zell but the house was pretty big and she had no idea were about he was, or how long it would take to find him and she knew this fight could be over any minute. She watched as Seifer manoeuvred his gun blade in every direction and at every angle and height and somehow despite, his condition, Squall managed to avoid each attack. Rinoa was amazed by his strength, that he could still carry on through all the pain.

Unfortunately though, his state became his weakness that allowed Seifer to gain the upper ground. He turned his gun blade, and jammed the handle into Squalls shoulder exactly were his already bleeding wound was. Clenching his shoulder and crying out in pain Squall dropped to the ground.

Seifer laughed victoriously and then placed the tip of his gun blade on Squalls chest, were his heart would be. "Well, who's pathetic now Squall?"

Barely managing not to pass out form the pain Squall said through gritted teeth "Still you"

Seifer just grinned evilly "That was almost too easy. Oh well. Goodbye Squall"

Rinoa felt immediate panic rise up in her. She knew she had to do something, anything, to help Squall. She glanced quickly around the room but the dim lamps on each surface didn't allow her a very good view.

'_Damn it!' _she thought frantically to herself _'there has to be something..'_

Then an idea popped into her head. She knew it was not the best of ideas, but it was all she had. She ran quickly over to the side of the room, grabbed one of the dim, brass lamps and pulled the wire from the wall. With all the force she could manage she swung the lamp and hit Seifer in the back of the head. He fell to the floor, grasping his head before passing out to the ground.

"Thank god" Rinoa cried

"Thank you" Squall said

She helped him up off the floor and threw her arms around him "I thought you were gonna die" she sobbed against him

"It's okay. It's okay I'm fine" he reassured her

"We should get out of here" she said……………..

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Zell disabled another soldier with a few punches but he was starting to get tired. It seemed like they had been fighting non stop since they arrived there, and there seemed to be an endless stream of soldiers to defeat. Zell had no clue now where Irvine and Selphie or Quistis were. They had all spread out around the large house trying to defeat the soldiers and find General Caraway, who had disappeared in the commotion. Zell was amazed at how big the house was, but still every room seemed to be filled with soldiers and SeeD fighting. He prayed that none of the student s would get to hurt, but he was glad he made the decision to bring them other wise the odds would have been too against him and the group. He searched each room frantically. He was determined he would find Caraway, and turn him into Esthar for everything he had done. He was also becoming slightly worried about the others. If he was becoming tired then surely they would be too. After eliminating a few soldiers, he came across the room he soon discovered was Caraways study. Opening the door he saw Caraway sitting behind his desk yelling frantically into the phone while soldiers stood around him one armed with a large Gun. As soon as the soldier saw Zell he started firing off rounds which Zell was finding difficult to dodge. But luckily he managed. Dodging the stream of bullets he made his way over to the soldier and after knocking the gun from there hands used his best attacks to knock him unconscious.

The other guards surrounded him and he had to take on 5 of them, dodging punches as well was timing swift kicks and punches.Eventually he manged to render them all unconscious but he discovered that in the commotion Caraway had once again left the room. He headed for the exit, determined not to let him get away, but then another guard entered the room. Suddenly Zell panicked. This guy was huge. Probably twice the height and width of Zell.

"Oh hell" he muttered.

The guy grabbed him and then threw him against the wall at the other side of the room. Zell felt suddenly dizzy, but knew he had to carry on. He forced himself up and aimed 3 swift punches at the guys head, but they seemed to have no effect. He slammed his fist into Zells torso and once again he went flying across the room and crashed into the table by the roaring fireplace. He forced himself up off the ground and as the guy approached him he swiftly dodged, moved in a full circle and was behind the guy. He used this advantage and he delivered a sharp kick to the back of the guys legs. The fight went on for a long time, but eventually using some of his moves he only used on very special fighting occasions, Zell knocked the guy out.

He bent over, his hands on his knees and tried to get his breath back when he heard aloud crackling sound. H glanced and immediately panicked. The table which he had knocked over earlier in the fight had somehow come into contact with the nearby fireplace and the cloth had caught fire. The orange flamed licked at the wooden table and they were starting to spread………..


	11. getting out alive?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own ff8. Never have and sadly more than likely never will. Darn

**Note:** ok, well this chapter is kind of a little shorter than the rest and maybe a little weird because, well I wrote it while I was on a coach (long story). Now I will tell you it is infact the second to last chapter, which you may be sad, or happy or indifferent about, but yes only 2 more to go. Well my thanks as always go to my reviewers Lilnaych, renegade seraph, r, and sayuri21, enjoy the chapter you guys and everyone else. Well this chapter starts with Squinoas situation, so I'll just go back and say remember they have just floored Seifer and are in the basement. Okay here we go. Peace and light xx

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Pulling away from the hug she was sharing with Squall, Rinoa said "Seriously. Lets just get out of here. We'll find the others and just go"

But opening the door at the top of the basement stairs she got a huge shock. She could swear she could smell strong smoke.

"what the hell?" Squall asked

"Smoke?" Rinoa wondered aloud. As they walked through the next room, it became very evident were the heavy smoky smell was coming from. There was a loud crackling orange fire in the hallway beyond the room, and it was spreading terrifyingly quickly! Flames licked at the panelled wooden walls, spreading to the curtains and up them to the ceilings.

"Holy crap" Squall muttered under his breath "Come on, we gotta get out of here "

"What happened?" Rinoa asked confusedly

"Doesn't matter what happened, it happened and come on, we've to go now"

"Hold on" Rinoa said, turning and heading towards the hallway. Squall reached out and grabbed her by the arm "what the hell are you doing?"

"what do you think I'm doing. I'm going to find the others"

"You are not." he said firmly "we're leaving now"

"What? Are you crazy?" she asked him

"are you? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he said sounding a little angry

"No but…there your students, and our close friends, zell and Selphie, and Quistis and Irvine, we can't just leave them, we've got to find them"

"No we've got to leave right NOW. We don't have a clue were they are, for all we know they could already be out, and we wont make it out if we stay here any longer"

"But" Rinoa said tears starting to fall "But what if there inside, what if there trapped and they… die!". She shook off Squalls grip on her arm and headed for the hallway again, but she felt his arms wrap around her waist and he pulled her backwards.

"forget it, there's nothing we can do." he started dragging her backwards towards the exit

"But, but there your friends.." She sobbed as she tried to struggle against him.

"I know, I know. But I can't save everyone. And you're my wife. I wont let you die, I'm getting you out of here." Although she was still struggling against him, he managed to drag her towards the main doors of the house and out of them. Even injured, he was much much stronger than her and he dragged her down the path to a safe distance away from the house. Standing outside the house, panicked, were a few garden students, but there was no sign of Zell, Irvine Quistis and Selphie.

"We have to go back!" Rinoa cried, not clicking onto the idea that there was no way in hell Squall would let her go back anywhere near that house. Judging by the flames visible through all the windows , the fire had spread quickly to nearly every room in the house.

"Call the fire department!" Squall yelled across to the students standing around looking terrified. Rinoa forced her way out of Squalls grip "I'm going back for them" she sobbed. Squall reached out and pulled her to the ground. "Listen to me" he said holding her shoulders "There's nothing we can do now"

She was still trying to struggle against him, waving her arms around, and her voice became erratic "we…can't just….we can't just leave them?" she yelled "Don't you care…??Don't you care that their…." but at that point she stopped yelling and broke down completely into a fit of tears, and she buried herself in Squalls arms.

"it's so unfair" she sobbed

"I know, I know it is." he said trying to comfort her as she sobbed in his arms "I'm sorry. But there's just nothing I can do. I'm sorry Rinoa."

"I'll miss the all so much" Rinoa whispered, choking on tears

Just then she heard a familiar voice going "oh hell. Come on".

Looking up and blinking through the blinding tears she saw Irvine! He was struggling down the path towards them, and unconscious Selphie slung over one shoulder, and an unconscious Quistis over the other. When he eventually got to Squall and Rinoa, he lay both the girls on the ground and collapsed to his knees and started coughing.

"Irvine! Are you alright?" Rinoa cried

"Not really. Those two passed out, smoke or something I guess. I mean it wasn't at all difficult trying to get both of them out by my self" he said kind of sarcastically

"Sorry Irvine" Squall said "I didn't' know where you guys were, and I had to…"

"to get Rinoa out. I understand." Irvine finished "But…wait, where's Zell?"

"He's still in there" Squall asked

"We have GOT to go back" Rinoa cried again

"No way" Irvine said "I barely made it myself, you wont get in and out in time, that place is going to blow!!"

Rinoa knew Irvine was right, but that didn't stop the pain and guilt she felt. As the orange flames illuminated the night sky Rinoa sat and tearfully wondered what had become of her friend…

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Zell found it hard to keep moving, because the smoke was causing him to cough uncontrollably every few seconds. He was amazed at how quick the fire was spreading, it seemed to have spread to almost every room already. Zell was heading for the door, when suddenly he remembered something. "Squall and Rinoa!". He remembered how Rinoa had gone running off in the direction of the basement to find Squall. He had no idea of what state Squall was in when she found him and no idea if they were out or not. He hadn't seen Irvine, Selphie or Quistis around so he assumed they were out, but Squall and Rinoa he wasn't so sure about. Deciding it would be best to check, he headed for the basement weaving through the flames. As he opened the door he saw that the basement was one of the rooms the fire was yet to reach, but he knew it was close. He also saw that Squall and Rinoa weren't there, but someone was. Moving closer, Zell saw that it was Seifer. He was lying on the floor, just blinking back into consciousness. As Zell looked at him, he heard the fire getting louder and obviously closer and he tried to get Seifer up.

"get off me!" Seifer said

"Dude, I'm trynna help you. This whole place is going to go up the fire's everywhere , we've got to get out of here!"

Seifer jumped off the ground and picked up his gunblade

"Fire?. Well that's just too good to be true. Easy way to wipe you all out with no effort" he laughed

"What?" Zell asked, confused

"All this" Seifer said braggingly "this was all me. Well, maybe it didn't go exactly to plan, but oh well."

"what the hell. You were behind all of this. I knew we shouldn't of trusted you. Were are Squall and Rinoa"

"I think they got away. Couldn't kill that Idiot Squall myself, but you I can" he said pointing his gun blade in Zells direction, but he obviously wasn't in top condition because before he had time to do anything Zell executed a perfect leg sweep which floored Seifer surprisingly easily.

"you're evil man" Zell hissed as Seifer tried to get up and Zell pushed him backwards. He tripped loosing his footing, and fell backwards onto the stone floor again. Glancing around Zell saw the fire had now reached nearly the top of the stairs.

"Got to get out of here" he said racing up the stairs. But half way up he stopped and turned, Seeing Seifer lying half conscious on the floor. Was he really just leave Seifer to burn alive?"

"Damn it" Zell cursed, knowing he couldn't do that. Seifer was a jerk, and a bad guy, but he couldn't just let him did knowingly. Besides Seifer didn't deserve to just die and get away with everything he did. Zell ran back down the stairs and pulled Seifer up, supporting the half conscious man and dragging him up the stairs.

It was difficult, incredibly difficult. Flames had destroyed almost the whole house and were spreading like crazy. He tried to manoeuvre through them all to the exit, while still supporting Seifer. He just about made it to the exit, he swung the door open and hurried out of it just as the fire completely collapsed the staircase behind him. He dragged Seifer down the path a way from the house and saw majority of the SeeD students he had brought, Quistis and Selphie both lying unconscious on the ground next to Irvine and Squall comforting a hysterical Rinoa although he looked pretty close to passing out himself.

Zell made it to not to far way from them and heard Squall call out "Zell!". But that was the last thing he heard. Dropping Seifer to the ground, he bent over and then he collapsed...

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Nooo poor Zell!!!!!!! will he be okay???? well like i said only one more chapter to go so if you want to know you have to read that! ha! well i promise it will be soon and thanks for reading xx


	12. The end

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Final fantasy 8. How I wish I did. I also wish I owned a giant castle. Again I should tell you I do not own that either

**Note: **Well my good friends, we have reached the end. This is the last chapter. You may be glad to see the end of the story or you may miss it. But either way sit back and enjoy the ending, seeing what's in store for our characters. My hugest thanks must go to anyone who has read or reviewed any chapter of this story or anyone who has read and enjoyed any of it at all and especially to those people who've reviewed a lot of the chapters and kept with me all the way through. And thanks to Hannah who really helped a million with this story. The Seifer/Zell bit is for you in this!!! My best wishes and thanks to y'all for keeping me writing. So here we go, the grand finale and conclusion of a family affair……….

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Rinoa sat in the infirmary staring at the plain white walls, the same blank walls she had been staring at for almost the last two weeks. It had been that long since the whole incident in Deling.

Rinoa had been relatively lucky out of the whole group, she had been one of the only ones conscious when the fire brigade and medics had arrived on the scene. She was immediately bombarded with questions, non of which she would answer as she was too overcome with sadness and worry at that moment. Only half of the SeeD students Zell had taken had made it out, Zell had collapsed, Quistis and Selphie were still unconscious, Irvine was weak and Squall had passed out a few seconds after Zell did.

Of course over the two weeks Quistis, Selphie and Irvine made full recoveries, and Rinoa was only treated for minor injuries. Zell and Squall however, were still lying unconscious in the infirmary. It was determined that the cause of Zells problems was the amount of smoke he had inhaled and the general strain on his system. Rinoa knew exactly how he'd got into that state too; saving Seifer. Zell had been forgiving enough and brave enough to go back for Seifer, pulling him out of the fire, and risking his own life. Seifer was also still unconscious, but Rinoa didn't really care at all about him, she couldn't care less if he lived or died, and if anything she was leaning more towards him dying. He had been the cause of all this, he had been the one to jeopardise the life of her friends, he had been the one who had put Squall in the state he was in.

Squall had made next to no recovery in the two weeks. According to the doctors, it was amazing he had stayed conscious as long as he had. He had suffered internal injuries from all the beatings he had taken, as well as losing a lot of blood. The doctors had done everything they could, but still for the two weeks he had just lay there, no signs that he was even close to waking up. But Rinoa refused to move until he did. She had spent practically every minute of the two weeks in the infirmary. She left for about 10 minutes every day to shower and then she came back and just sat there, staring at the walls. She even stayed there at night, she would just curl up at the end of the bed Squall lay in and sleep. Most nights she'd cry too. She'd look down on his face and all the worst scenarios would come flooding into here head. It was always expressionless, and still covered in cuts and bruises.

'_what if he never wakes up. What if he's like this forever. What if I lose him'_ she kept thinking to herself. She couldn't bear the thought of what her life would be without him. She couldn't think that way without being reduced to tears.

As Rinoa sat there that day, Selphie came into the room. Selphie usually came to visit Rinoa, just to keep her company.

"Hey Rinny. Any better yet ?"

Rinoa shook her head "No"

"I'm sure he'll wake up soon" She said laying a comforting hand on her friends shoulder.

"Maybe" Rinoa said quietly. She dint want to give up hope. She could never give up on Squall, but she knew she had to start preparing herself for the possibility that maybe this was the end for her and Squall. But she hoped and prayed with every fibre of her being that that was not the case.

"Any news on Zell" she asked Selphie.

Then it was Selphies turn to look sad "No. I checked in on him this morning. Seifer's awake though, Irvine told me"

Rinoa though this to be madly unfair. Seifer, the bad guy in the whole situation, was fine, but Squall and Zell were still hanging on for there lives.

"They should put him in prison" Rinoa said

"apparently, they're keeping him in the detainment centre for now while they decide what to do with him"

Selphie stayed for a few more minutes, but then Rinoa was left alone again.

'_Seifer. Why does Seifer get to be alright?'. _With a shudder, Rinoa remembered how once, all be it a very long time ago, once she had thought she loved Seifer. She had admired him, respected him. Now she didn't feel anything towards him but pure hatred. As Rinoa thought about this, trying to control her temper, Dr Kadowaki walked into the room. She usually did so a few times each day just to check on Squall.

"Hello Rinoa. Have you been here all night again?" the doctor asked "why don't you go and get something to drink or just get some fresh air for a few minutes."

"no, it's okay" Rinoa said quietly

"Please Mrs Leonhart, it would do you good, and it is only a few minutes. Besides I have to check the dressings and wounds, it's probably best that you aren't here"

Rinoa rubbed her eyes. She was kind of sleepy, and figured maybe some coffee would do her good "ok. But just a few minutes okay?" she said. She made her way quickly from the infirmary to the Cafeteria, secured some coffee and started on her way back. But she didn't make it back as quickly as she would have liked. People kept stopping her, students asking her how was their commander doing and was it true they had Seifer locked in the detainment centre. She supposed that all this seemed exciting to other people in Garden, but to her it was tragic. Tragic that one of her best friends lives was at risk, tragic that her husband hadn't been conscious for two weeks and tragic that Seifer lived through it all. When she finally made it to the infirmary, it had been 15 minutes since she had left, and there was a strangely large number of students gathered around the entrance, whispering and gossiping.

Panic struck Rinoa hard and fast _'Something's going on here. Oh my god, what's happened now?'_

She pushed her way through the crowds and found Dr Kadowaki standing just outside Squall's room.

"what's going on?" She asked the doctor urgently.

"It's Squall…"

As soon as the doctor uttered those words Rinoa panicked and her mind went to a whole other place, as the worst scenario automatically came to mind. Squall is….dead? It seemed like an eternity before the doctor finished her sentence "He's awake!"

At first Rinoa thought she had imagined those words they sounded so good to her, she ran past the doctor, pushing open the door to Squalls room. And he was awake.There he was, sitting up slightly in his bed. He looked tired and weak, but as soon as he saw Rinoa he smiled. She immediately threw her arms around him and pulled him close to her.

"You're ok!!!" she said, tears of joy tracking down her face

"I'm fine."

"I…I thought I lost you" Rinoa sobbed

"I'd never leave you behind you know that" Squall said softly "And it's all over now, so you don't have to cry anymore"

Rinoa sat there for the rest of the day, not quite believing how lucky she had been. It was only that night that she left, as Kadowaki told her that Squall needed to rest.

But as Rinoa was leaving the infirmary, Kadowaki followed her into the corridor.

"Rinoa, you're very lucky" she said

"I know. I was really scared for a while. I couldn't stand it thinking he wouldn't come back."

"He really loves you Rinoa"

"Huh?" Rinoa thought this was a very strange thing to say

"He'd been unconscious for two weeks, probably woke up to an immense amount of confusion, not to mention pain, and do you know what the first thing he said was?"

Rinoa just shook her head, wondering where this story was going

"he said, 'where's Rinoa? is she okay?'"

Rinoa felt like crying all over again this made her so happy. If there were ever any small doubts at all about her and squalls relationship, this whole incident had removed them all. Rinoa supposed that was the one good thing about it all….

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Another week passed and Zell had still not woken up. Squall, who made a surprisingly quick recovery, had the horrible tasking of calling Zells mother in Balamb and letting her know what had happened. It had not been easy, explaining everything to her. But luckily Ma Dincht was not the type to ask too many harsh questions. She said she didn't blame Squall or Garden at all, but she would very much like to visit Zell each day in the infirmary, which Squall of course agreed to. Another difficult task had been dealing with the issue of those SeeD students that Zell had taken, that had not made it back alive. It was only 2 in the end, but those two lives had still been lost, and Squall had come under a fair bit of criticism for it, even though it was mot really his fault in any way. But the friends of these students thought it to be acceptable to constantly question Squall as to why his wife had survived and there friends had not. Not all together a pleasant experience. But Ma Dincht had actually made it better for him, she had managed to convince him that this was not his fault. Ma Dincht was surprisingly positive most days, considering the circumstances. Of course then came a day that she had reason to be cheery.

It was a Monday and Squall and Rinoa had visited Zell in the infirmary while Ma Dincht was there. Hope for Zell recovering was starting to dwindle. His injuries appeared to be a lot less than Squalls, yet he had showed no sign of any change. As Squall and Rinoa sat there, there was a knock on the door.

"Yeh" Squall called, but when he saw who walked through the door he nearly died.

"Seifer. What the hell?" Squall stood up, pushed Seifer out of the room, out into the main infirmary and then into the corridor and shut the door behind them

"what the hell do you think your doing here? Get out now". Squall said. He couldn't believe the cheek of Seifer. He had been the one to put Zell in that bed, and actually had the nerve to show up.

Seifer seemed different though, a little quieter, more reserved "I just wanted to know, is…is he going to be okay"

"Like you really even care." Squall said before going back to the infirmary and shutting the door loudly behind him.

From Zells room he heard laughter. For some reason. And it sounded like Rinoa. He opened the door to see that Zell was actually awake. And laughing too. Squall had no clue what they were laughing at, but he dint care, he was just happy that Zell was back. Of course, outwardly, he was a cool, calm and collected kind of happy, not too much emotion. "welcome back Zell. Glad your okay" he said

"Yeh, you too man, you too. Guess it all worked out all right in the end" Zell said with that optimistic grin of his.

'_Guess it has' _Squall thought

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Later that afternoon after Squall and Rinoa and his Ma had left, Zell sat alone in the infirmary, feeling pretty bored. There was a knock at the door "who is it" Zell called excitedly, happy of any company.

"It's Seifer"

"um…come in" Zell said kind of cautiously. What was Seifer doing here?

"Hey chicken wuss" Seifer said

"What are you doing here. Shouldn't you be in prison" Zell said folding his arms over his chest

"probably will be soon" Seifer said "I'm only here till they decide what to do with me officially"

Zell glanced behind Seifer and noticed there were 2 SeeD, with guns, obviously minding seifer.

"I came before, but that Jack ass Squall sent me away. Just wanted to see if you were okay"

This was strange to Zell. Seifer showing concern, for another human being?

"I'm fine" Zell said coldly

"Ok. Well I, um, I…just wanted to say, that I'm um…."

Zell had never seen Seifer so lost ofr words, so defeated before. He actually felt the tiniest bit of sympathy for him. He'd been through a lot too. Zell would never deep down understand anything he did, even back to the days of Edea, but he sensed that deep down, Seifer had problems. " apology accepted. And I forgive you"

"I never apologised…" Seifer said, obviously trying to defend his pride

"Sure" Zell shrugged "whatever"

"So how come, you don't want to kill me then?" Seifer asked "How come you say you forgive me, even though I don't want forgiving, not that I really care but…"

"because Seifer. I'm the bigger man…."

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Later that night Rinoa lay there in the dark, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. With everything that had happened with Zell and Squall her mind had been preoccupied with worry and she hadn't really thought about what had happened in Deling city. Her father. She couldn't help but wonder where he was now. It seemed unfair after everything he did, he just got away. And then she started to think about everything he had done. How he had been cold enough, evil enough, to hurt his own daughter. Thinking back on it all, Rinoa remembered how afraid she had felt throughout it.

"Squall. Squall are you awake" she asked softly, brushing some of his hair away from his eyes

"what is it?" he asked sleepily. It was obvious he had been asleep, but Squall was alight sleeper, so she had probably just woke him up.

"Were you…scared?" she asked him

"Huh?"

"That whole thing, the mission. Were you scared?"

Squall didn't say anything for a while. Then he said simply "yeh, Like hell. I had no idea what they were going to do to you. I was scared I'd never see you again"

"Weren't you scared for yourself though?"

"Not really. Didn't really care what happened to me, I just wanted you to be okay"

"I am. Thanks to you."

"and Zell" Squall added. "But, you know. There is one thing I've got to tell you"

"what" Rinoa asked. Squall sounded deadly serious, and she was starting to worry

"You, Mrs Leonhart, have the family from hell"

That was all? She felt her worry melt away and turn to a smile.

"yeh" she said with a little laugh. "But you know what? My husband's kinda cool"

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Ok well were all wrapped up! i hope people liked the finale chapter. lots of different things going on. like i said zell n seifer spesh for my friend and pkot bunny. as for the ending, well it was supposed to be kind of calm and nice. its a lil fluffy, but well i'm queen of the cute cliche so hehe. once agin all my thanks to my readers. love ya allx lemme no what you think of the end and the story in general. Peace and light x


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